Artist Spotlight: Stephen the Levite

JTH: Can you talk about the making of your album artwork? In the album’s second promo video, it is revealed that the album artwork was an actual photo.

Stephen: My wife and my boy Rob at ARTSO had some brainstorming of what we wanted the album cover to look like. We wanted it to look mature, like a grown man sitting in his study, ready to share some intimate thoughts or feedback. We pitched the idea to Scouts Honor Media Co. and Adam Smith from Scouts Honor took of with the idea, finding ways to make it dope. He came up with the idea of having the set painted so that it looks like it has been Photoshopped, but it is not. We thought that it was an amazing idea and it came out great.

JTH: What are some topics that you discuss on your new album? You’re known by many for talking about Bible stories or theological subjects, but this album will be different.

Stephen: This album is really different. It is a continuation of previous work, so I’m always building on what I’ve already done. This album is more of a continuation of the marriage elements of the last album. The last album was about marriage, missions, and the church and how those three parts need to be decompartmentalized. They overlap more than we realize they do, and I think that this album continues into the vein of marriage and talks about the realities that you’re confronted with. What do you do about previous partners? How do you manage your money and go on dates? What is sex in marriage for the believer? All that kind of stuff. What do I do with all this new stuff that I’m learning now that I’m learning? A lot of married couples don’t get a chance to hear about this topic in a public way. People are super private about it, if they talk about it at all, and I think that a lot of marriages suffer for that reason. I try to put stuff out in the open.